Man enters plea to shooting charges

LAKEPORT -- The prosecution and defense attorneys in the case of Dennis Leroy Cato, who was accused of shooting at PG&E subcontractors after they were finishing up work at his home, reached a deal Monday afternoon and will be avoiding trial.

Cato, 65, entered a plea of no contest to one count of assault with a firearm and admitted to a special allegation of using a firearm while committing a felony. The plea represents a maximum of six years in prison for Cato.

The deal came little more than a week before Cato was set to face trial, which was scheduled for March 5.

Deputy district attorney Susan Krones said in court that without the agreement, the maximum sentence for the charge and allegation Cato pleaded to would have been 14 years.

As part of the deal, the prosecution dropped three charges against Cato, including attempted murder, defense attorney Komnith Moth said.

The charge Cato pleaded to carries a low sentence of two years, a middle sentence of three years and an upper sentence of four. The special allegation typically carries a low sentence of three years, a middle sentence of four and an upper sentence of 10 years in a state prison.

Because of the agreement between the prosecution and the defense, the court can only sentence Cato to a middle and a lower sentence in order to keep the sentence from surpassing the the six year agreement. Both terms would be served consecutively, Judge Richard C. Martin said.

Martin added that Cato is also eligible for probation.

The deal struck by both sides also stipulates that Cato, who has been in custody for nearly a year and a half, would receive credit for time served and as much as 15 percent of that time more for good behavior.

During the last year, the case saw several hurdles, most spawning from the court's finding in April that Cato was not mentally fit to face trial after Moth declared doubts about his competency.

Cato was later ordered by the court to be transported to Napa State Hospital in order to receive treatment, but overcrowding at the hospital forced a wait of nearly three months before he was transported in August. He was returned to the custody of the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility in early January after the court ordered an update on his mental health status and found that he was once again fit for trial.

Cato originally pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to seven felony charges that stemmed from an incident during which he allegedly shot at a pair of PG&E subcontractors who were finishing up work at his Hill Road East home in Lakeport on Aug. 29, 2012.

He is in custody at the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 17.

Isaac Brambila is an associate editor for Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility. Reach him at 263-5636 ext. 37 or at ibrambila@record-bee.com.